Jefferson County mauls Crystal Springs
The Tiger captains are escorted to midfield by game officials prior to the ceremonial coin toss against Jefferson County. Photo by Gage Pinson
weeks ago had Crystal Springs players and fans wanting
more at home last Friday night against Jefferson County,
but it just wasn’t to be. As the nearly new moon sank into
the western sky, it took the Tigers’ hopes with it.
When the final horn sounded Jefferson County had racked up
46 points and CSHS only 6. The loss dropped the Tigers to
1 – 3.
“We just got beat. We didn’t play our game,” said Tiger
Head Coach Johnny Young, Jr. “I said last week that they
were bringing a good team in to play us, and that we were
going to have to play a great game to beat them, and we
just didn’t do that.
“We missed a lot of tackles that we should have made, and
we missed a lot of assignments on the offensive line. Our
guys just didn’t play the game they were supposed to play.
We taught them and showed them on film everything
Jefferson County was going to do.”
Without a single senior on the offensive line, coaches
expect to see steady improvement from that group.
Turnovers were a big factor in the Tigers downfall.
Starting quarterback Christopher “Bubba” Lawrence threw
one interception and one completion in four attempts
before leaving the game with an injury. Kendarius Williams
took his place but added three interceptions and no
completions in eleven tries.
But there were some positives. “Special teams were a
bright spot for our team overall,” said Assistant Coach
Rodrick Jones. “They gained the most yards for us.” Kevin
Monzon also averaged 40 yards on two punts.
The biggest special teams play came in the first quarter
with the Tigers down 16 – 0. Jamario Benson gathered in a
Jefferson County kickoff on his own 30 and sliced through
the coverage team for a 70 yard touchdown.
Benson also led in rushing from scrimmage with 18 yards.
Devin Clark led Tiger tacklers with 7 and 2 assists.
Antonio Wilson added 6 tackles.
It doesn’t get any easier for the Tigers this week as they
travel to take on their arch-rivals, the Hazlehurst
Indians. Hazlehurst owns an impressive 3 – 0 record with
wins over Morton (34 – 6), South Pike (26 – 14), and
Wingfield (22 – 7).
“They have a lot of great athletes,” Young said. “They can
run it and throw it, and they’re well coached. It’s not
going to be an easy game.”
“This is a big rivalry game and a big game in itself,”
Jones added. “It creates a great atmosphere for football.”
